Negligence in Nursing Homes

An inquiry made by the Southern Nevada Health District in January 2016 revealed that there was presence of legionella bacteria at the Boulder City Veterans Home, including in the late United States Navy retiree Charlie Demos, Sr., who had been residing at the facility when he died of Legionnaire’s Disease in April 2015.

An inspection report made by the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found out that the Boulder City facility needed improvement in a lot of areas, with New York City-based independent non-profit newsroom ProPublica noting that the nursing home got 38 deficiencies between December 2012 and June 2015, and was given a fine of $20,166 in 2013 for not being able “to ensure the resident[s] received adequate supervision to prevent accidents”.

This is in connection with the death of former Nevada legislator Bob Robinson, who suffered from heatstroke and sun-related blistering after the nursing home’s staff failed to usher him back inside the facility. A separate investigation into the facility was conducted by the Nevada Attorney General’s Office due to this incident and several other factors, like the facility having a 15.5% medication error rate.

According to SeniorAdvice.com, Nevada’s veteran population, which is estimated at 350,000 at present, will only continue to grow in the coming years. Key challenges regarding them will be increasing available bed space while improving living conditions.

Nursing home neglect, while similar to nursing home abuse in the sense that they both result to the elderly patient being exposed to an unpleasant scenario that could harm them, most particularly in a physical sense, is different from abuse as it is sometimes done unintentionally – although said manner is still inexcusable, unintentional as it may be for it is usually the result of breach of duty or substandard care.